Cafe Head Chef

Cafe Head Chef

Samyarth is hiring a Cafe Head Chef to lead Comeback Cafe in Igatpuri, Maharashtra: ₹15,000–18,000 per month with accommodation and food, 2–4 years of experience preferred.

About Comeback Cafe

Comeback Cafe is a food venture of Samyarth, run with women who are rebuilding their lives after trauma. It is a fully equipped cafe that works as a real-world training ground and a livelihood platform.

We are restarting with a new batch of students, FSSAI licensing cleared, a rented cafe and a minimal operating budget. What we need now is the right person to lead this from the ground up. If you want to make a real difference in the lives of women seeking a new start, this role is for you.

About Igatpuri

Igatpuri is a hill town in Maharashtra, surrounded by mountains and waterfalls. Many people dream of running a cafe in the mountains, and if that's you too, this is a great opportunity. Our HQ office is also based here, and every month new teams visit to meet one another, which keeps the place lively and the community growing.

The Role

You are the anchor who makes Comeback Cafe real.

This is a rare opportunity to build and run a purpose-driven food business from scratch, with infrastructure already in place, a mission that matters, and creative ownership over how this grows. You will set up the kitchen operations, train a cohort of students, find venues, and create the proof of concept that unlocks the next stage of scale.

Role and Responsibilities

Operations

• Lead end-to-end Comeback Cafe operations, from daily prep and service to close-down
• Manage two external cooks and coordinate workflow between the cooks and student commis
• Own menu planning, food costing, portion control and waste minimisation
• Maintain FSSAI hygiene and food safety standards at all times
• Handle daily procurement, vendor relationships and inventory management

Venue & Revenue

• Identify and pitch venues, starting with residential society RWA stalls (2–4 evenings a week), then building toward corporate campuses and institutions
• Own the outreach and relationship-building with RWA contacts, event organisers and venue gatekeepers
• Explore packaged food retail (shops, e-commerce) as a parallel revenue stream
• Scout and evaluate private land or roadside locations for standalone truck parking

Student Training & Mentorship

• Onboard and orient each new batch of students into the Comeback Cafe environment
• Design and lead structured kitchen skills training (prep, service, hygiene, customer interaction)
• Act as the day-to-day mentor for students: patient, consistent and trauma-informed in approach
• Gradually build student independence so they can co-run operations with minimal supervision

Documentation & Growth

• Document operations, customer feedback and revenue data to build the evidence base for corporate pitches
• Work with the founder to report on progress, flag blockers and co-create the medium-term roadmap
• Manage the operating budget allocated for raw materials, consumables and minor infrastructure

What We're Looking For

Must-have	Good to have
2–4 years in food service, catering or F&B operations. Candidates with less experience but strong drive are welcome to apply.	Has run or co-run their own food venture, however small
Experience running a stall, small restaurant, canteen or food cart	Has trained or mentored junior kitchen staff
Has managed a small kitchen team or worked closely with cooks	Experience with packaged food or home delivery operations
Comfortable handling end-to-end logistics independently	Familiarity with food costing and menu engineering
Based in Pune, Igatpuri or Nashik, or willing to relocate immediately	Prior work with NGOs, social enterprises or women's programmes

The Person We Are Looking For

Experience matters less than the right combination of drive, ownership and warmth:

• Entrepreneurial energy: treats this like their own business, not a job
• Hunger and initiative: doesn't wait to be told what needs doing
• Operational discipline: reliable, consistent and detail-oriented in the kitchen
• People orientation: genuinely invested in the growth of the students they work with
• Resilience: comfortable in an environment that is still being built, and can handle ambiguity
• Mission alignment: understands and connects with why this exists

What We Offer

• Salary of ₹15,000–18,000 per month, with accommodation and food provided
• Profit sharing once the business starts earning
• A compelling mission and story that opens doors with corporates, funders and media
• Opportunity to grow into a leadership role as Comeback Cafe scales
• Direct mentorship from, and access to, the Samyarth founder team
• The chance to shape something that directly changes the lives of women rebuilding from trauma

Role Details

Detail
Organisation	Samyarth
Venture	Comeback Kitchen, a social food enterprise
Position	Cafe Head Chef
Location	Igatpuri, Maharashtra
Type	Full-time, ground-level leadership role
Reports to	Founder / Programme Lead
Start date	Immediate, within 2 weeks preferred
Remuneration	₹15,000–18,000 per month, plus accommodation and food, with profit sharing once the business starts

We are an equal opportunity employer. Women candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.